Political Correctness, Segregation, and Capitalism: An Explanation and Call to Action for Bewildered White Liberals PART 2

PC Politics and Culture--Part 1 I grew up in the age of political correctness. Political correctness told us, implicitly and explicitly, not that it was wrong to be a racist, but that it was wrong to speak and act like a racist, to be seen as a racist.

Political correctness sent two very different messages to two very different populations of white people. It confirmed white liberals’ belief that racism is wrong, but it sent the message to white conservatives that they must hide their racism. It wasn’t wrong to be a racist; it was just wrong to get caught. The messaging of PC was always external, never internal. Decades before, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned us of this: “Desegregation will break down the legal barriers and bring men together physically, but something must touch the hearts and souls of men so that they will come together spiritually because it is natural and right (Strength to Love 29). But King was murdered.

No effort was made to confront the reality of the pervasive and complex existence of racism in America. No effort was made to confront and resolve the explicit racist beliefs of half the white population, and no effort was made to confront and resolve the invisible, internalized racist beliefs and biases held by the other half of the white population. While our identity as white liberals became increasingly linked to being non-racists, we grew less--not more--willing to talk about racism. There were things we couldn’t explain, having never dealt with our own indoctrination into white supremacy. It was easier to avoid the subject than to investigate our feelings and biases that were a part of our socialization in this country but which we were deeply afraid of.

My family would have fun making crass un-PC jokes to make fun of people who still held such unconscionable beliefs. We never took these people seriously, nor did we see the need to confront our own feelings and beliefs. We knew better; we were not racists. In hindsight, I see our jokes served a very important function in white liberal society: to create and reinforce our racial identity as enlightened white people. By distancing ourselves as much as possible from racists and placing all the blame on them, we placed ourselves in a bubble where any analysis of ourselves was unnecessary. Not being them meant we were perfect. We were the good whites...